Some of the protesters believe young black men are being targeted. “End shoot to kill,” “Rockford has no justice” and “Why is the murder of black boys legally justified?” were among phrases on their signs.

“What we are hoping to accomplish is that Mayor Morrissey will call for a federal investigation” into the Nov. 1 death of Demetrius Bennett, said the Rev. Melvin Brown, pastor of Kingdom Authority International Church, home of the day care where Mark Anthony Barmore was killed in a struggle with police.

They took their march to City Hall in the evening, where Brown and another marcher, Antar Baker, 37, addressed aldermen and city staffers. A few aldermen expressed concerns with an increase in divisiveness in the community.

“If we don’t start talk talking about race relations, it’ll never happen,” said Ann Thompson-Kelly, D-7. “I don’t agree with everything the speakers said, but I do agree that one thing that definitely needs to be done is for this to be discussed.”

Mayor Larry Morrissey was absent from the City Council meeting, but he released a 2½-page statement regarding the protestor’s demands.

“We are empathetic to the concerns voiced today and will continue to support our citizens and our officers in our mutual pursuit to a safer community,” Morrissey stated.

He listed several steps the city has taken or is taking to change policy and practices of the Police Department since the Barmore shooting on Aug. 24, 2009: “While the work of maintaining excellence is ongoing, our community can take pride in their police department and the consistent efforts to improve that organization.”

Many are concerned when there are officer-involved shootings, said Ald. Venita Hervey, D-5, but many aren’t going to blame one person or every police officer.

“They come in all different colors,” she said. “I’m not going to denigrate them and assume that because they happen to be of a different color that they would shoot an individual who doesn’t look like them.”

Hervey also defended Epperson, saying the department has been transformed for the better in recent years. She agreed that there’s a need for dialogue and greater understanding.

Three fatal shootings this year involving Rockford officers are the first since Barmore was killed:

• Bennett, 31, was shot after what started as a domestic assistance situation evolved into a use of deadly force when Bennett reportedly charged officers with a steak knife. Brown said protesters want a public apology from Epperson to the Bennett family for his initial statement that Bennett used his child as a “human shield.” Epperson later recanted.

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• On Oct. 11, officers were called to assist a reportedly suicidal subject and shot Logan Bell, 18, to death when he pointed a pellet gun at officers.

• In January, an officer shot and killed Phillip K. Johnson, 29, during a traffic stop that reportedly was related to an unconfirmed shots-fired call.

The Barmore shooting led, among other things, to the creation of the Winnebago County Integrity Taskforce, a collection of detectives that investigates officer-involved shootings so local police departments do not investigate their own shootings.

Members of the Bennett family and others who joined Monday’s protest chanted as they marched:

“What do we want?”

“Justice!”

“When do we want it?”

“Now!”

Brandi Brown joined the demonstration in hopes that if her 13-year-old son were to have dealings with the police, his civil and human rights would be respected.

“I have seen and experienced the injustice, and I want to be part of this movement to make sure his generation receives justice in situations like this,” she said.

Recent officer-involved shootings are racially motivated, said J. Allen Johnson, a lawyer who said he represents the Bennett family.

“You have a disease called racism in this city, and no one is dealing with that,” he said. “People are getting killed and nobody cares. (The Bennett) family is in shellshock. They can’t believe it. Their family member is dead for no reason.

“The police chief lied. They need to fire their police chief. They need to get rid of their prosecutor. They need to rebuild and have a law enforcement that actually enforces the law instead of breaking the law.”